Family time out in Vladivostok: things to see and do with kids in Russian Far East

In this review - ideas of kids-friendly activities in Vladivostok: the most interesting museums, theaters, sites, parks, and entertainment for the whole family in Russia's most Far East city. 

 

 

Vladivostok museums for kids

Every day at 12 noon they shoot cannon balls into the sky at Vladivostok Fortress. You can find out about traditions like these and more at a museum open at the Unnamed Radiator, one of the oldest fortress constructions in the Far East. Displayed at the front of the museum are weapons from the past century and the different types of technology they used to build the fortress. 

They tell you about sea battles in the Far East at the Pacific Ocean Fleet Museum on Svetlanskaya Street. From there you can walk down the embankment to Admiralsky Square where you can climb up a real C-56 submarine, walk through its compartments, check out its torpedo tube, and look into its submarine eye and find out how the marines service went.

 

 

Patrol Ship “Krasny Vympel” is moored to the Korabelny Embankment, right across from the square and the submarine. You can climb on top the ship, walk around the mast, and then stop by the museum hall where they tell the story of the Red Pennant and the people that served on it at different times.

Open on Russian Island is museum complex The Voroshilov Troop. In the two underground towers of the radiator, you can visit residential and equipment facilities, check out the shells there, and find out how they loaded the weapons with them.

 

 

You can get acquainted with the history and nature of the Primorsky Krai at Arsenev Museum. In its halls are dioramas of the taiga and coast with effigies of animals and birds, maps of the Primorye, and objects of the daily life of indigenous peoples. They also do temporary exhibitions there like drawing for kids or applied arts.

Gathered in the roofed Old Automobile and Motorcycle Museum on Sakhalinskaya Street is a whole collection of automobiles and motorcycles. There you can see the first motorcycles of the USSR as well as images of prize and Soviet technology from the days of World War II and light cars from the 1950s. “Parked” at the front of the museum also are military trucks and even a “katyusha”.

 

 

Vladivostok theaters for kids

You can stop by for a puppet show at the Puppet Theater. There they perform the stories of a capricious princess, a curious elephant, a Cat in Boots, Buratino, and Masha and the Bear.

In the Theater in the Name of Gorky they do kids shows on Russian folk tales like Finest the Brave Falcon or the Frog Queen as well as foreign tales, such as the Snow Queen and Sleeping Beauty.

 

 

Included in the repertoire of the Fleet Officer Theater are also kids performances about Brother Rabbit, Runaway Piggy Bank, and the Cat house. There you can check out school programs as well, some of which are based on the works of Ostrovsky, Shakespeare, Moliere, and Platonov.

They put on kids and family shows in the Youth Theater. There you can check out performances inspired by Marshak (Terem-Teremok), Kataev (Seven Colors), and Japanese fairy tales (Eteko – the Monkey Bride) as well as children’s tale “Ku-ka-ra-oke” (I Don’t Want to Be a Dog). They also do tours of Russian and foreign theaters too.

 

 

Vladivostok Zoo

This private zoo is located out of town in the Sadgorod District. It doesn’t have a lot of animals, but they are all kept in pretty good size cages and they owners regularly bring new people in to nurse them. Living in the zoo are lynxes, leopards, camels, ostriches, monkeys, a lion, a north deer, and other birds and animals. At the zoo you can buy nice things for the animals and feed them. They also let you ride the back of a horse or a pony.

 

Oceanarium and Butterfly Park in Vladivostok

In the oceanarium on the Sportivnaya Embankment are three aquarium halls where you can see tropical fish, Ussuriiski sturgeon, a sea crab, a Pacific octopus, crocodiles, and turtles. On the second floor, there is even a sea museum with shells and effigies of sea inhabitants, including a Live Butterfly Garden as well with tropical plants.   

 

 

Gardens and parks in Vladivostok for kids

In the center of the city you can go for a walk in Pokrovsky Park where the Pokrovsky Cathedral is located as well as the Peter and Fevronia Monument, after which you can stop by the Sea Confectioner Shop in a factory and buy fresh, yummy sweets, including the “Pigeon Milk” from a Vladivostok company.

Vladivostok has its own Arbat – Admiral Fokin Street. On this pedestrian street paved with stone, you can sit down at a fountain, check out old buildings, and stop by at one of the shops or restaurants.

The Japanese Stone Garden is open on the territory of the Vladivostok State University of Economics and Service on Gogol Street. All of the plants were brought there from the Vladivostok Botanical Garden and its composition of stones, sand, and gravel was assembled by Japanese specialists.

 

 

In the Botanical Garden in Sadgorod, you can stop by a greenhouse with exotic flowers, stroll around the rose garden, go down an eco-trail in a forest reserve, and watch some fish swim around in a decorative pond. There is also a playground open for kids with swings.

From the middle of April until October, you can go ride some attractions at Carousel Culture and Recreation Park on the embankment of Sportivnaya Harbor. There are attractions open in the park for young children and a little bit older children as well, there are kiosks there selling cotton candy, and in the summer they offer boat rental on the embankment. You can take your whole family for a ride on a Ferris wheel where you get a chance to see the whole city and the Japanese Sea.

In Fantasy Park at Second River are both extreme and family attractions. Year round there is a prize game hall in operation as well as Apple café. In the winter time there you can also ride done the snow slides or go ice skating.

 

Observation decks in Vladivostok

The Vladivostok cable rail-way is in operation every day. In a minute and a half, you can take it up to a bald mountain up to an Eagle’s Nest and hang out on an observation deck where you get a great view of the old city, the Golden Bridge, and Golden Horn Bay.

 

 

Vsevolod Sibirtsev Street is often called Beauty Avenue because of the beautiful view you have from there over the sea and the city. As for Golden Horn Bay, you can get a great look at it from the observation deck in front of Del Mar Restaurant.

You can enjoy another pretty view of Russian Island and the Eastern Bosphorus at Egersheld Lighthouse on Tokarevskoy grapnel. You can see Russian Bridge really well from there with the longest cable span in the world. Furthermore, in the summer, you can get a tan on the beach.   

 

Kids entertainment centers in Vladivostok

IgroPark kids center is open in the building of the Maritime Terminal. There you can play air hockey, table tennis, video game machines, or the 5D attraction Transforce. There are over 20 different attractions for kids from 2 to 14 years old. For kids there’s a soft playing zone with tables for creativity and for adults there are massage chairs and you can have a bit to eat in the same place at Alisa Café.

Treasure Island is located in Clover Park Mall. On a pirate island with fountains and palms, there are over 40 attractions for kids under 14 years old, including the Pirate Cave, Flint’s Chest, a raceway, and a virtual highway. You can leave your kids at day care for a little while in Kids Town if you want and have dinner with your whole family at Tavern Café.

 

 

Assembled at Romashka Entertainment Complex in Orient Mall is entertainment for kids between 1 and 8 years old: a trampoline, a Big Kids Town with a maze and swings, and there’s also a fairy tale tree growing there.

We offer a collection of Vladivostok events for the whole family in our events guide.

 

Photos: automotomuseum.vl.ru, museumtof.ru, wikimedia.org, театргорького.рф, theatre.pk.ru, akvamir.org, vvsu.ru, vk.com/ostrov_vl